When does it get going?
England play the hosts, and defending champions, New Zealand at 7.30pm local, 6.30am GMT on Saturday 12 November at Eden Park in Auckland. The match is a sellout with more than 40,000 tickets made available, which will be a world record for a women’s rugby match.
How can I watch it?
ITV is showing the buildup and match live from 6am. BBC Radio 5 Live is broadcasting the final live or you can join the Guardian’s Sarah Rendell for our unrivalled minute-by-minute coverage. Also, if anyone in London fancies watching it with like-minded fans from afar, there is a special Rugby Watch party at Twickenham’s Cabbage Patch while a number of local rugby clubs around the country are opening their doors.
Who’s going to win?
England came into the tournament as red-hot favourites to win the World Cup for the third time. Reaching the final has seen them rack up a record 30-game winning streak. Having lost to the Black Ferns in the 2017 final after leading at half-time, they are desperate to reap the rewards of three years of professionalism and come away with the trophy.
The five-time champions New Zealand, though, have never lost in a final and are a very different proposition to the mess they were in this time last year when they suffered record defeats against England and France. A reckoning after that tour saw the the New Zealand Rugby Union throw money and resources at the team. They have been professional since February and have grown under the not inconsiderable tutelage of the World Cup-winning All Black coaches Wayne Smith, Mike Cron and Sir Graham Henry, with Dan Carter helping out in the kicking stakes.
Where will the match be won and lost?
It will come down to who handles the pressure best and whether England’s super-efficient forward-oriented game can deliver enough points and stop the free-running Kiwis at source. So much of England’s drive for professionalism has been geared to delivering under that kind of pressure. Their driving maul and lineout are brilliantly choreographed and they do have the firepower out wide to cause New Zealand problems if they get the chance. England will miss the injured Helena Rowland at 15 and look to be tweaking their tactics with the selection of Holly Aitchison over Tatyana Heard in the centre channel. The Black Ferns’ gameplan has been based on a brand of exciting running and offloading rugby and the freedom to make mistakes, bolstered by a shored-up set piece. They will need a collective defensive effort to hold off the English pack, however, before hoping the passes stick when their running game gets going.
Watch out for …
Abby Dow’s try against Canada showed what England can do when they do run the ball. Zoe Aldcroft is the world player of the year in England’s engine room and it will be interesting to see what Claudia MacDonald can do off the bench, either as scrum-half cover or on the wing. For New Zealand, Portia Woodman has overtaken England’s Sue Day as the World Cup’s record try-scorer this tournament while her back-three colleague Ruby Tui has lit up the tournament on and off the pitch.
Route to the final
England survived an immense defensive challenge from France in their pool game and a wobble against an inspired Canada in their semi, and are confident they can reproduce their best form when it counts. New Zealand started slowly and trailed Australia early in their opener but have grown as the tournament has gone on, culminating in the single-point upset against France in their semi-final.
England
Pool matches England 84 Fiji 19; England 13 France 7; England 75 South Africa 0
Quarter-final England 41 Australia 5
Semi-final England 26 Canada 19
New Zealand
Pool matches New Zealand 41 Australia 17; New Zealand 56 Wales 12; New Zealand 57 Scotland 0
Quarter final New Zealand 55 Wales 3
Semi-final New Zealand 25 France 24
The lineups
England Kildunne; Thompson, Scarratt, Aitchison, Dow; Harrison, Infante; Cornborough, Cokayne, Bern, Aldcroft, Ward, Matthews, M Packer, Hunter (capt). Replacements Davies, Muir, Brown, O’Donnell, Cleall, Kabeya, MacDonald, Heard
New Zealand Holmes; Tui, Fluhler, Fitzpatrick, Woodman; Demant (capt), Cocksedge; Love, Ponsonby, Rule, Roos, C Bremner, A Bremner, Hirini, McMenamin. Replacements Connor, Murray, Taumata, Ngan-Woo, Simon, Bayler, Tubic, Leti-I’iga
Referee Hollie Davidson (Sco)
